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Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment USA (GLOBE USA) and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) sponsored a Congressional briefing to discuss hydrogen and fuel cell technology. Representative Nancy Johnson (R-CT), Representative Mark Udall (D-CO) and Senator Jim Jeffords (R-VT), members of GLOBE USA, hosted the briefing. Representative Udall provided opening remarks to offer their legislative perspectives.

In the United States today we are faced with many energy challenges, ranging from regional power supply crises and sharply escalating energy prices to oil extraction. According to the Wall Street Journal, Americans are more concerned about energy now than they have been for decades. The time is ripe for renewable and sustainable energy technologies to play a much larger role in our future, and one of the key elements of this new energy economy is hydrogen and fuel cells. There are numerous bills that have been introduced in Congress that deal with renewable and emerging energy technologies, including hydrogen and fuel cells.

• Hydrogen is a renewable energy resource, and it is the most abundant element in the universe.



• Adding five percent hydrogen to gasoline can lower vehicle emissions by 30 to 40 percent.



• The main emission from fuel cell use is pure water - H2O.

The audience heard first-hand from experts in the fields of hydrogen and fuel cells about these emerging technologies, the issues surrounding them, as well as the current and future uses of these technologies. The expert panel included: